Chapter 100 Searching for the Ninth Fragment
Xiaobai stretched out his right hand, palm facing up, and the S01 ring slowly emerged.
Golden light patterns flowed in the air, but there was still a gap in the lower right corner, like a puzzle that was torn apart.
"If we find the ninth fragment and the repair is complete..."
She stared at the gap, her fingertips gently tracing the edge.
"Will I know the answers to all the mysteries? There is a faint voice in my heart shouting, as if it wants to tell me something, but when I want to listen carefully, it disappears."
Tang Jingmo stood beside her, his eyes fixed on her slightly furrowed brows.
He reached out his hand and smoothed her frown. "The more critical the moment, the less anxious we should be. So far, they have not been able to control you as they wish. At least this means that we still have the initiative."
The moment the two looked at each other, the same determination was reflected in each other's eyes - the ninth piece must be found!
However, this search was more difficult than any previous one.
In the past, the fragments would actively approach Xiaobai, as if being pulled by some force, even at the cost of crossing time and space.
But now, the situation has changed. They took the initiative to attack, but found that the ninth fragment seemed to have completely disappeared from the world. It was a million times more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.
The two men traveled to every corner of the city in half a month, searching inch by inch, but still found no clues.
"The sign on Dong'ao Island clearly says 'Beijing City'."
Xiaobai retracted the S01 ring, frowned, and recalled the prompt before the eighth fragment was absorbed, confirming that he remembered it correctly.
"Why haven't we detected any energy fluctuations after searching the entire Forty-Nine City?"
She tried to activate the S01 ring again, and the faint blue light spread like ripples, scanning the space within a radius of dozens of miles.
However, after a few seconds, the light dimmed and there was no response.
Tang Jingmo closed his eyes and concentrated, his mental power spread out like an invisible net, sensing every slightest abnormality.
But after a while, he opened his eyes and shook his head: "No."
Xiao Bai scratched his hair irritably, "Did we miss something?"
Tang Jingmo tapped the back of his hand lightly with his slender fingers. Suddenly, his eyes focused, he took out a map, and his fingertips stopped somewhere on the map.
"Perhaps we were wrong from the beginning," he whispered.
"Hmm?" Xiaobai turned his head to look at him.
"We subconsciously regard the fragment as an 'ally' and believe that its hints must be correct."
Tang Jingmo's fingertips slowly stroked the mark on the map, "But what if... it has been misleading us from the beginning?"
Xiaobai's pupils shrank slightly.
——The purpose of the fragments may not be to help them!
"You mean, the ninth fragment is not in the capital at all?"
She stood up suddenly, her eyes sharp, "It deliberately led us to waste time here?"
Tang Jingmo nodded, and lightly slid his fingertips across the map, finally stopping at the northwest Gobi Desert.
"The meteorological department reports that the weather in the Gobi Desert has been abnormal recently and there is no regularity at all."
He said in a low voice, "The abnormal weather may be caused by magnetic field disturbances and frequent sandstorms..."
Xiaobai stared at the desolate mark, a sneer slowly forming on the corner of his mouth.
"It seems that someone doesn't want us to find it. I want to see what secrets the ninth fragment has that make the person behind it so secretive!"
Tang Jingmo made the final decision: "Northwest, Gobi Desert, let's explore!"
Of course, the two couldn't just leave. One was a star freshman, and the other was a young and dazzling faculty member. People were always watching their actions.
"I finally understand what it means that people are afraid of becoming famous and pigs are afraid of getting fat. I should have been more low-key earlier!" Xiaobai complained.
Even when I asked for leave, I received a lot of care and condolences from teachers from all sides. I didn’t get a leave note, but I received a lot of supplements.
Tang Jingmo spread his hands helplessly, "It seems that I can only go the public route."
The next day, a secret call was made to the principal's office to assist in the investigation, and the two were able to disappear from the public eye.
In the northwest, the Gobi Desert is filled with wind and sand.
Xiaobai half-knelt on the sand dune, his fingertips deeply inserted into the hot sand.
Fine sand flowed through her fingers, and the S01 ring pulsated faintly under her skin, emitting a golden light.
Suddenly, she frowned.
“There is a reaction.”
The sand beneath my palms vibrated faintly, as if a sleeping beast was turning over.
She pushed down hard, causing the sand dune to collapse, raising a cloud of yellow dust.
Empty!
This is the eighteenth time.
Tang Jingmo stood behind her, his military jacket rustling in the wind and sand.
He glanced at his watch and saw that the compass on the dial was spinning wildly.
"The magnetic field interference is getting stronger." He said in a low voice, "Take a break and eat something."
Xiaobai shook off the sand on his hands and squinted at the distorted horizon in the distance.
The scorching sun burned her skin, and the sweat was evaporated by the heat wave as soon as it seeped out, leaving fine white salt stains on her face.
Tang Jingmo skillfully took out dry food and a water bottle from his backpack.
The two men sat back to back in the shadow of the jeep, chewing their dry, hard rations in silence, with grains of sand rubbing against their teeth, making a slight crunching sound.
"It's been a month." Xiao Bai suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice, "Could we have gone in the wrong direction again?"
She broke off a piece of steamed bread crumbs and put it in her mouth, chewing it mechanically.
Thinking back to the points I have found in the past thirty days, something flashed through my mind.
Suddenly, she paused.
etc.
"map!"
Tang Jingmo spread the map on the sand and carefully marked the locations they had explored with a black pen.
"Tang Jingmo, look—"
Xiaobai excitedly swiped the map with his finger.
“If you connect these dots, does it form a shape?”
Tang Jingmo lowered his head and carefully distinguished, "The Big Dipper?!"
"Yes! The Big Dipper also appeared when the earthquake occurred. Could there be some mystery behind the location of the Big Dipper?"
Tang Jingmo's fingertips pressed on the "Tianshu" position, where there was a cross he had drawn three days ago.
“But every point...”
"There is nothing at all." Xiao Bai continued, suddenly clenching his fists, "Unless——"
The S01 ring lit up without warning, and the golden light cast a clear star map projection on the sand.
Between the seven spots of light, an eighth shadow vaguely emerged.
"The extension line of Yaoguang Star is five times the distance..."
"It's not at the point, it's on the extension line!"
As the dusk deepened, the two of them stood up at the same time. Xiaobai folded up the tent neatly, and the light pattern of the S01 ring flickered in the dusk like breathing.
"How about we set off again in the morning?" Tang Jingmo raised his eyebrows, looking at the unpredictable wind and sand.
"No, right now." Xiao Bai had already jumped onto the driver's seat. Amid the roar of the engine, her murderous voice mixed with the wind and sand spread far away.
"Before 'they' move on."
The jeep rushed into the depths of the night, its headlights piercing the darkness like a sword drawn from its sheath.
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